Leave the Grave Green (10 page)

She rubbed her eyes with her knuckles and blinked several times to clear them, then looked about her. Before her on the corner stood the Chandos Pub, and just beyond it a black-on-white vertical sign said
LONDON COLISEUM
. Blue and white banners emblazoned with the letters
ENO
surrounded it and drew her eyes upward. Against the blue-washed canvas of the sky, the ornate white cupola stood out sharply. Near the top of the dome, white letters spelled out
ENGLISH NATIONAL OPERA
rather sedately, and Gemma thought they must be lit at night.

Something tugged at her memory and she realized she’d been here before. She and Rob had been to a play at the Albury Theatre up the street, and afterward had stopped for a drink at the Chandos. It had been a warm night and they’d taken their drinks outside, escaping the smoky crush in the bar. Gemma remembered sipping her Pimm’s and watching the operagoers spill out
onto the pavement, their faces animated, hands moving with quick gestures as they dissected the performance. “It might be fun,” she’d said rather wistfully to Rob.

He had smiled in his condescending way and said, light voice mocking, “Old cows in silly costumes screeching their lungs out? Don’t be stupid, Gem.”

Gemma smiled now, thinking of the photo she’d seen of Caroline Stowe. Rob would’ve fallen over himself if he’d come face-to-face with her. Old cow, indeed. He’d never know what he had missed.

She pushed through the lobby doors, feeling a small surge of excitement at her own entrance into this glamorous fairy-tale world. “Alison Douglas,” she said to the heavy gray-haired woman at the reception desk. “The orchestra manager’s assistant. I’ve an appointment with her.”

“You’ll have to go round the back, then, ducks,” the woman answered in less than rarified accents. She made a looping motion with her finger. “Round the block, next the loading bay.”

Feeling somewhat chastened, Gemma left the plush-and-gilt warmth of the lobby and circled the block in the indicated direction. She found herself in an alleylike street lined with pub and restaurant delivery entrances. With its concrete steps and peeling paint, the stage entrance to the London Coliseum was distinguished only by the increasingly familiar ENO logo near the door. Gemma climbed up and stepped inside, looking around curiously at the small lino-floored reception area.

To her left a porter sat inside a glass-windowed kiosk; just ahead another door barred the way into what must be the inner sanctum. She announced herself to the porter and he smiled as he handed her a sign-in sheet on a clipboard. He was young, with a freckled face and brown hair that looked suspiciously as if it were growing out from a Mohawk cut. Gemma looked more closely, saw the tiny puncture in his earlobe which should have held an earring. He’d made a valiant effort to clean up for the job, no doubt.

“I’ll just give Miss Alison a ring,” he said as he handed her a
sticky badge to wear. “She’ll be right down for you.” He picked up the phone and murmured something incomprehensible into it.

Gemma wondered if he’d been on duty after last Thursday evening’s performance. His friendly grin augured well for an interview, but she had better wait until she wouldn’t be interrupted.

Church bells began to ring close by. “St. Martin’s?” she asked.

He nodded, checking the clock on the wall behind him. “Eleven o’clock on the dot. You can set your watch by it.”

Was there a congregation for eleven o’clock services, Gemma wondered, or did the church cater solely to tourists?

Remembering how surprised she’d been when Alison Douglas had agreed to see her this morning, she asked the porter, “Business as usual here, even on a Sunday morning?”

He displayed the grin. “Sunday matinee. One of our biggest draws, especially when it’s something as popular as
Traviata
”

Puzzled, Gemma tugged her notebook from her purse and flipped quickly through it. “
Pelleas and Melisande
. I thought you were doing
Pelleas and Melisande
.”

“Thursdays and Saturdays. Productions—”

The inner door opened and he paused as a young woman came through, then continued to Gemma, “You’ll see.” He winked at her. “Alison’ll make sure you do.”

“I’m Alison Douglas.” Her cool hand clasped Gemma’s firmly. “Don’t mind Danny. What can I do for you?”

Gemma took in the short light brown hair, black sweater and skirt, platform shoes, which didn’t quite raise her to Gemma’s height, but Alison Douglas’s most notable characteristic was an air of taking herself quite seriously.

“Is there somewhere we could talk? Your office, perhaps?”

Alison hesitated, then opened the inner door, indicating by a jerk of her head that Gemma should precede her through it. “You’d better come along in, then. Look,” she added, “we’ve a performance in just under three hours and I’ve things I absolutely must do. If you don’t mind following along behind me we can talk as we go.”

“All right,” Gemma agreed, doubting she’d get a better offer.
They had entered a subterranean maze of dark green corridors. Already lost, Gemma followed hard on Alison Douglas’s heels as they twisted and turned, went up, down and around. Occasionally, she looked down at the dirty green carpet beneath her feet, wondering if she recognized the pattern of that particular stain. Could she follow them like Hansel and Gretel’s bread crumbs? The smells of damp and disinfectant made her want to sneeze.

Alison turned back to speak to her, stopped suddenly and smiled. Gemma felt sure her bewilderment had been entirely visible, and thought for once she ought to be grateful her every emotion registered on her face.

“Back-of-house,” Alison said, her brusque manner softening for the first time. “That’s what all the unglamorous bits are called. It’s quite a shock if one’s never been backstage, isn’t it? But this is the heart of the theater. Without this”—she gestured expansively around her—“nothing happens out front.”

“The show doesn’t go on?”

“Exactly.”

Gemma suspected that the key to loosening Alison Douglas’s tongue was her work. “Miss Douglas, I’m not sure I understand what you do.”

Alison moved forward again as she spoke. “My boss—Michael Blake—and I are responsible for all the administrative details of the running of the orchestra. We—” Glancing at Gemma’s face, she hesitated, seeming to search for a less complicated explanation. “We make sure everything and everyone are where they should be when they should be. It can be quite a demanding business. And Michael’s away for a few days just now.”

“Do you deal directly with the conductors?” Gemma asked, taking advantage of the opening, slight as it was, but the corridor turned again and Alison pushed aside the faded plush curtain which barred their way. She stepped back to allow Gemma to pass through first.

Gemma stopped and stared, her mouth open in surprise. Beside her, Alison said softly, “It is rather amazing, isn’t it? I begin to take it for granted until I see it through someone else’s eyes.
This is the largest theater in the West End, and it has the largest backstage area of any theater in London. That’s what allows us to put on several productions simultaneously.”

The cavernous space bustled with activity. Pieces of scenery belonging to more than one production stood side by side in surreal juxtaposition. “Oh,” Gemma said, watching a huge section of stone wall roll easily across the floor, guided by two men in coveralls. “So that’s what Danny meant. Thursdays and Saturdays Sir Gerald conducts
Pelleas and Melisande
—Fridays and Sundays someone else is doing… what did he say?”

“
La Traviata
. Look.” Alison pointed across the stage. “There’s Violetta’s ballroom, where she and Alfredo sing their first duet. And there”—she gestured toward the section of stone wall, now slotted neatly into a recess—“that’s part of King Arkel’s castle, from
Pelleas
.” She looked at Gemma, studied her watch, looked once again at Gemma and said, “There are a few things I simply must see to. Have a look around here, why don’t you, while I get things in hand. After that I’ll try to manage a quarter-hour in the canteen with you.” She was already moving away from Gemma as she finished, the soles of her platform shoes clicking on the wooden floor.

Gemma walked to the lip of the stage and looked out. Before her the tiers of the auditorium rose in baroque splendor, blue velvet accented with gilt. The chandeliers hung from the dome high above her like frosted moons. She imagined all the empty seats filled, and the expectant eyes upon her, waiting for her to open her mouth and sing. Cold crept up her spine and she shivered. Caroline Stowe might look delicate, but to stand on a stage like this and face the crowd required a kind of strength Gemma didn’t possess.

She looked down into the pit and smiled. At least Sir Gerald had some protection, and could turn his back on the audience.

A thread of music came from somewhere, women’s voices carrying a haunting, lilting melody. Gemma turned and walked toward the back of the stage, straining to hear, but the banging and thumping going on around her masked even the sound’s direction. She didn’t notice Alison Douglas’s return until the woman
spoke. “Did you see the pit? We jam one hundred nineteen players into that space, if you can imagine that, elbow to—”

Gemma touched her arm. “That music—what is it?”

“What—?” Alison listened for a moment, puzzled, then smiled. “Oh, that. That’s from
Lakme
, Mallika’s duet with Lakme in the high priest’s garden. One of the girls in
Traviata
is singing Mallika next month at Covent Garden. I suppose she’s swotting by listening to a recording.” She glanced at her watch, then added, “We can get that cup of tea now, if you like.”

The music faded. As Gemma followed Alison back into the maze of corridors she felt an odd sadness, as if she’d been touched by something beautiful and fleeting. “That opera,” she said to Alison’s back, “does it have a happy ending?”

Alison looked back over her shoulder, her expression amused. “Of course not. Lakme sacrifices herself to protect her lover, in the end.”

The canteen smelled of frying chips. Gemma sat across the table from Alison Douglas, drinking tea strong enough to put fur on her tongue and trying to find a comfortable position for her backside in the molded plastic chair. Around them men and women dressed in perfectly ordinary clothes drank tea and ate sandwiches, but when Gemma caught snippets of conversation it contained such obscure musical and technical terms that it might as well have been a foreign language. She pulled her notebook from her handbag and took another sip of tea, grimacing at the tannin’s bite. “Miss Douglas,” she said as she saw Alison touch the face of her wristwatch with her fingertips, “I appreciate your time. I’ll not take up any more than necessary.”

“I’m not sure I understand how I can help you. I mean, I know about Sir Gerald’s son-in-law. It’s an awful thing to happen, isn’t it?” Her forehead creased as she frowned, and she looked suddenly very young and unsure, like a child encountering tragedy for the first time. “But I can’t see what it has to do with me.”

Gemma flipped open her notebook and uncapped her pen, then laid both casually beside her teacup. “Do you work closely with Sir Gerald?”

“No more so than with any of the conductors”—Alison paused and smiled—“but I enjoy it more. He’s such a dear. Never gets in a tizzy, like some of them.”

Hesitating to admit she didn’t understand how the system worked, Gemma temporized with, “Does he conduct often?”

“More than anyone except our music director.” Alison leaned over the table toward Gemma and lowered her voice. “Did you know that he was offered the position, but declined it? This was all years ago, way before my time, of course. He said he wanted to have more freedom to work with other orchestras, but I think it had something to do with his family. He and Dame Caroline started with the company back at Sadler’s Wells—he would have been the obvious choice.”

“Does Dame Caroline still sing with the company? I would have thought… I mean, she has a grown daughter…”

Alison laughed. “What you mean is that she’s surely past it, right?” She leaned forward again, her animated face revealing how much she enjoyed teaching the uninitiated. “Most sopranos are in their thirties before they really hit their stride. It takes years of work and training to develop a voice, and if they sing too much, too soon, they can do irreparable damage. Many are at the peak of their careers well into their fifties, and a few exceptional singers continue beyond that. Although I must admit, sometimes they look a bit ridiculous playing the ingenue parts when they get really long in the tooth.” She grinned at Gemma, then continued more seriously. “Not that I think that would have happened to Caroline Stowe. I can’t imagine her looking ridiculous at any age.”

“You said ‘would have happened.’ I don’t—”

“She retired. Twenty years ago, when their son died. She never sang publicly again.” Alison had lowered her voice, and although her expression was suitably concerned, she told the story with the relish people usually reserve for someone else’s misfortune. “And she was brilliant. Caroline Stowe might have been one of the most renowned sopranos of our time.” Sounding genuinely regretful, Alison shook her head.

Gemma took a last sip of tea and pushed her cup away as she
thought about what she’d heard. “Why the title, then, if she stopped singing?”

“She’s one of the best vocal coaches in the country, if not the world. A lot of the most promising singers in the business have been taught, and are still being taught, by Caroline Stowe. And she’s done a tremendous amount for the company.” Alison gave a wry smile, adding, “She’s a very influential lady.”

“So I understand,” said Gemma, reflecting that it was Dame Caroline’s influence, and Sir Gerald’s, that had dragged the Yard into this investigation in the first place. Seeing Alison straighten up in her chair, Gemma asked, “Do you know what time Sir Gerald left the theater on Thursday evening?”

Alison thought for a moment, wrinkling her forehead. “I really don’t know. I spoke to him in his dressing room just after the performance, around eleven o’clock, but I didn’t stay more than five minutes. Had to meet someone,” she added with a dimple and a lowering of her lashes. “You’ll have to ask Danny. He was on duty that night.”